Film to premiere on 60th anniversary of mine disaster

KINGSTON, Pa. (AP) - No matter how far they roam, Albert and David Brocca will always have coal in their blood.

The cousins, who moved to California to pursue their dreams of film-making, never forgot their Northeastern Pennsylvania upbringing, especially stories about anthracite mining.

Inspired by those stories, they have created a film on one of the anthracite region’s darkest chapters. “Knox Mine Disaster,” their feature-length documentary, will premiere on Jan. 22, the 60th anniversary of the tragedy that killed 12 men - and, effectively, the area’s mining industry. It will be screened at the Kirby Center for the Creative Arts at Wyoming Seminary, 260 N. Sprague Ave., Kingston.

“This is part of our history,” Albert Brocca said during an interview on Saturday. “The area is so rich with anthracite coal heritage, and this disaster basically spelled the end of that era.”

The film combines vintage news footage with survivor interviews and artist’s renderings of conditions in the Knox Coal Company mine when the Susquehanna River broke through its ceiling near Port Griffith that January day in 1959, sending icy water into the breach.

Human error - and greed - caused the catastrophe. The Knox Coal Company disregarded regulations that stated mines must maintain 35 feet of rock between the mine’s ceiling and riverbeds, and instructed miners to excavate under the river.

As a result the Susquehanna breached a six-foot patch of rock and flooded the tunnels underneath, sending 10 billion gallons of water into the mines.

The Broccas chronicle the disaster itself, as well as the legal proceedings that followed.

Anthracite roots

Producer Albert Brocca, 37, is originally from Kingston. Director David Brocca, 40, has roots in West Pittston.

While the Knox Mine cave-in took place long before they were born, mining lore ran in the family. Their great-grandfather was a miner killed on the job in an unrelated incident years earlier.

“People would come over here from Italy, Ireland, Poland” to work in the mines, which was dangerous but steady work, Brocca said, adding that many friends and acquaintances had stories about relatives and ancestors who were miners.

But it was the Knox disaster that captured their imagination, especially images they saw of the vortex that formed in the river above the breach, as well as dramatic efforts taken in an attempt to plug the hole.

“Growing up we always heard about the disaster and that whirlpool,” Albert Brocca said. “It was amazing to see old train cars being driven into the whirlpool, being obliterated and sucked into the abyss.”

Documentary viewers will be able to see footage of that iconic scene as well as the aftermath. Reels of film were discovered in the basement of WBRE and taken to the University of Southern California for transcription into high-definition video, Brocca said.

Eyewitness accounts

Perhaps the most powerful aspect of the film is its interviews with survivors and witnesses. The Broccas began capturing those oral histories a decade ago, long before they had settled on the idea to create a full-length film about the incident.

“The first interviews we did were at the 50th anniversary,” Brocca said, adding that he and David frequently return to the area, which is how they compiled the videos.

The project started to gather community interested about five years ago, he said, when they created a Facebook page to share anecdotes and information about the project. That page, in turn, led to more information and interviews.

The cousins would interview 14 people in total, of whom five have since died.

Talking with them, Brocca was impressed by their stories bravery and calm while facing death underground.

“They knew they might not make it out,” he said, but they tried not to let one another focus on that grim reality, lest anyone give up hope.

“You really have to admire that sense of stoicism, of camaraderie,” he said. “It was a lot like talking with men who had come through a war.”

While 69 men escaped, the bodies of the 12 who died were never recovered. They were: Samuel Altieri, John Baloga, Benjamin Boyar, Francis Burns, Charles Featherman, Joseph Gizenski, Dominic Kaveliski, Frank Orlowski, Eugene Ostrowski, William Sinclair, Daniel Stefanides and Herman Zelonis.

Each year there is a memorial Mass, which this year is set for Jan. 20.

Community support

In telling their story, the Broccas also turned to several other sources for help.

One was King’s College history professor Robert P. Wolensky, author of two books on the disaster who will be part of a post-film discussion with the Broccas on Jan. 22.

Another was artist Ben Mackey, who helped bring survivors’ stories to life with charcoal drawings depicting their harrowing experiences underground.

In obtaining the vintage news footage, the Broccas were exceptionally fortunate.

They learned that film from that era was still stored in WBRE’s basement, but it wasn’t immediately clear whether what the Broccas needed could be easily identified and retrieved from decades of old reels.

Enter Jack Scannella. They reached out to the veteran local TV cameraman who had taken some of the film and knew how it had been organized.

“He knew exactly where it was,” Brocca said. “He had the numbers and everything.

Scanella died in November at the age of 90.

The filmmakers also benefited from the generosity of investors and donors who took an interest in the project.

“It was really a passion for me and David. We put a lot of our own time and money into it,” Brocca said. “But we also had a lot of community support.”

Now, they hope the community will show support in attending the upcoming screening. They also acknowledge that the film is intended as much for younger audiences - and the future - as for those who were living at the time.

“We’re hoping to attract the grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” Brocca said.

What comes after the Jan. 22 screening? Brocca said he and his cousin plan to take “Knox Mine Disaster” on the film festival circuit.

“We’re hoping Tribeca or Sundance will pick us up,” he said.

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DOCUMENTARY SCREENING

What: Premiere of ’Knox Mine Disaster,’ a documentary about the 1959 tragedy.

When: Jan. 22. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., show starts at 7.

Where: Kirby Center for the Creative Arts at Wyoming Seminary, 260 N. Sprague Ave., Kingston.

Tickets: $15 per person.

. Online, visit: https://sa1.seatadvisor.com/sabo/servlets/EventSearch?presenter=WSEMINARY&title=KNOX&tck=true

. Or by phone: 570-270-2190 and ask for Alex.

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JAN. 20 COMMEMORATIONS

. Mass: St. John The Evangelist Catholic Church, 35 William St., Pittston, 9 a.m.

. Public ceremony: Pennsylvania Historical Marker, in front of Baloga Funeral Home, 1201 Main St., Port Griffith, 10:30 a.m.

. Walk to the disaster site: Gather at 11 a.m. at Baloga Funeral Home.

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Online:

https://bit.ly/2M8HEL5

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Information from: Times Leader, http://www.timesleader.com